I'm with you gfen... I missed by far my largest trout ever on a march brown dry last week. He came up once total, and it was to my fly... Atleast I know where he lives, but boy is it frustrating to get a fish to rise and you can't SET THE HOOK! Up until I hooked my first bat that night, I was kicking myself for missing the hookset.

I sometimes think hook setting is an art.Other times I know it is.I am not nor ever will be able to fish an indicator.To slow on the set.Eager fish easy hook set.Fast water quick set, slow water more deliberate.If any of this makes sense. GG

Posted on: 2010/6/8 11:43

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Through my own observations since this was started I seriously doubt you can be missing that many fish. I have to say for every ACTUALLY take I have 6-8 last second refusals where they break the surface right next to my fly.

And for every 10 actual takes I might miss 2. Either way I think dry fly fishing takes a 6th sense cause there is always that split second in a drift where you lose sight of you fly (esp. small stuff) and you just gotta "know" what is going on by feel. FWIW

Posted on: 2010/6/18 0:58

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On the nymphing side, I am more engaged and catch more fish when I fish to "imaginary" fish. When I envision where a fish should be lying - a single spot, not "sort of in the run"and present a nymph to that lie nymphing is a blast, and I catch plenty. Generally this type of fishing doesn't involve an indicator. At times when you get into the "zone" it is almost mystical. You never hit bottom and raise your arm for reasons not immediately apparent until a trout starts running off. When I lose focus nymphing can be a nightmare of snagged flies and no fish. I think good nymphing takes more concentration than good dry fly fishing. It is real easy to stay focused when a rising fish is in front of you, but imagining where a fish should be takes concentration.

When I put on an indicator I do a lot of "chuck-and-chance-it" fishing. Soon I am bored to tears and the skunk may be following me around. It is far too easy to fish the indicator and not fish for the trout.

gfen wrote:Damnit, give me hints. I'm done. I can't do it. I get constant takes on dries, but I seem to have lost the ability to set a hook.

Seven takes, no sets. It ain't all bad timing, either.

I'm about ready to pick up golf.

Just slow down. Think set, then do it. Nymphing or dry fly fishing you need to commit to the set. You're probably just ripping the fly away from the trout unless you have a bad hook gap. Check your fly and also check it often for debris etc. I fished with a broken hook for way too long one day. Slow down and commit when you set. You'll be fine.

The one thing I'll say about not missing fish nymphing is that you never knew you had one on so the bragging rights are skewed!

As a newbie to this whole fly fishing thing I have come to think nymphing as the same as my old reliable bait/spin fishing. It is the same, so I try to stay away from it. I started fly fishing because I wanted something different. I want to watch my fly go under a tree branch and get gobbled up. The excitement of surprise is just fantastic. If I wanted to fish with a bobber, I would put on a butter worm lol Just my opinion.

Posted on: 2010/8/4 20:35

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LRSABecker wrote:As a newbie to this whole fly fishing thing I have come to think nymphing as the same as my old reliable bait/spin fishing. It is the same, so I try to stay away from it. I started fly fishing because I wanted something different. I want to watch my fly go under a tree branch and get gobbled up. The excitement of surprise is just fantastic. If I wanted to fish with a bobber, I would put on a butter worm lol Just my opinion.

I'm gonna pretend I didn't read this....I like you. and want to keep it that way :)

Not even close. Some nymphing methods are similar, but that's the exception, rather than the rule. Many nymphing methods are the same as bait fishing in the same way that a sunday drive is the same as driving in a nascar race.

I say this as a formerly hard core and long time bait fisher that still dusts the UL spinning rod off once a year, and a full time fly fisherman.

Not even close. Some nymphing methods are similar, but that's the exception, rather than the rule. Many nymphing methods are the same as bait fishing in the same way that a sunday drive is the same as driving in a nascar race.

As someone who's not a master of either, I see why someone would say they're the same... A natural looking food, moving at a natural rate, in an area teh fish expects it, no?

The difference is with bait they'll smell it and look for it, grab it and taste it, and chew on it a little longer so you can be a little less lightening fast than with the artifical nymph.

That's one facet. Another is more easily explained by looking into the staggering variety of nymphing tactics. Many of them take advantage of multiple flies (I have never seen a multi-hook rig in stream baitfishing for trout), as well as the hydrodynamic properties of fly line and leader to create presentations (rising, falling, swinging, etc).

And that's before one even considers something like a dry/dropper rig, or various forms of european nymphing.